George J. Kourpias, President of the Alliance for Retired Americans, blasted the Bush Administration this week for "deceiving Congress and the American people about the actual cost of the Medicare prescription drug bill. They created a flawed bill, there are allegations of bribes and threats to persuade lawmakers to vote for the bill -- which narrowly passed -- and now the Office of Management and Budget says the legislation will cost $534 billion over the next decade -- $134 billion more than originally estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. One explanation for the higher cost: the billions of dollars in giveaways the bill provides to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. But why hide the true costs? That's simple: Congress would never have voted for the bill if members had known its real cost."